Senator Nick Xenophon has long campaigned for restrictions to gambling advertising, and commands three votes in the Upper House.

He described the announcement as a "good, big first step", but said he wanted further protections put in place to force regional broadcasters to produce local content as part of any broader media shakeup.

The Greens seemed unlikely to support the measures, while Labor maintained it needed to see the detail.

"We do want to see a diversity of voices available in the Australian media environment," Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said.

"We need to see the details of what the Government is proposing, what we frequently see is that Malcolm Turnbull delivers less than people expect."

The Coalition has also proposed changes to the "anti-siphoning list" which makes sure certain sports are broadcast on free-to-air networks, giving pay television a better chance of bidding for major events.

Government 'scraps licence fees' to fund lost ad revenue

The nation's free-to-air television networks had also raised concerns it would eat into their advertising revenue, and demanded their Commonwealth licence fees be cut to fund the losses.

Networks pay about $130 million per year for their broadcast licences.

Under the new model, that would be replaced by what is called a "spectrum charge" of about $40 million.

"In the last budget I cut free-to-air licence fees by 25 per cent, my predecessors have also cut licence fees," Senator Fifield said.

"So it's been something that both sides of politics have recognised that the licence fees are something that are really from a bygone era.

"What we have done is taken the opportunity to not only provide a shot in the arm for free-to-air broadcasters, but we have taken this opportunity to provide a community dividend in the form of further gambling advertising restrictions."

Free TV Australia said it was a "tremendous" package that had been agreed to by the industry.

"There's nowhere else in the world that licence fees are charged like this, it was a complete anomaly," chairman Harold Mitchell said.

"It provides a boost for local content and the local production sector.

"Recent financial results and announcements from across the Australian media industry clearly demonstrate that this is a sector under extreme competitive pressure from the foreign-owned tech media giants.

"This package is not just about Ten or free-to-air television. It is about ensuring that there is a future for Australian media companies."

Moscow's words and actions — including the alleged poisoning of a former spy — are not the results of random aggression but rather fall into distinct patterns that can help us anticipate Russia's next moves under Vladimir Putin.